Uf's Reward: No. 1 Kentucky

SEC

March 8, 1996|By MIKE DAME The Orlando Sentinel

NEW ORLEANS - — Congratulations, Florida. You're the next lucky patron that gets to stick your head in the mouth of the lion.

With Thursday's 75-62 victory against Mississippi in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, the Gators advanced to a quarterfinal meeting today (1 p.m.) with No. 1 Kentucky at the Superdome.

The same Kentucky that handed the Gators their worst home loss in 37 years two weeks ago with a 94-63 victory in Gainesville.

"The reward is to play again. The fact that Kentucky is the opponent makes you question that a little bit," said UF coach Lon Kruger, whose team has lost twice to Kentucky by an average of 22.5 points. "You go in planning on winning the game, yet you realize that's a tough challenge.

"Kentucky is going to play great. They've proved that over the course of the year. The outcome is more affected by how we handle that."

Florida (12-15) does have one thing going for it. It enters today's game playing some of its best basketball of the season.

Two words: Consistent shooting.

The past three games, UF has shot 54 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line. Its numbers against Ole Miss (12-15): 54 percent from the field (25 of 46) and 78 percent at the line (21 of 27).

"It's a different game when you put the ball in the basket," Kruger said.

Florida easily earned its second consecutive victory. It jumped to a 22-9 advantage and never led by fewer than seven the rest of the way.

Junior guard Greg Williams started and ended that run with 3-pointers en route to a team-high 22 points, his most in almost two months. Senior forward Brian Thompson added 11 points and 10 rebounds - his first career double-double - while senior center Dametri Hill had 18 points.

"Something we've stressed the last couple ballgames is being the aggressor," Williams said. "We wanted to come out and attack."

The Gators limited Ole Miss (12-15) to 34 percent shooting (23 of 68). The Rebels made only four of their first 20 shots.

Now, can UF produce similar results against Kentucky?

"You never know. We could go out there and beat them and shock the world," Thompson said. "People in Japan would even know about it."

With Vanderbilt trailing 66-63, Frank Seckar tried to get the ball to Howard Pride for a 3-point attempt. Instead, Caldwell stepped in and grabbed the ball, took it downcourt and passed to Wes Flanigan who scored.